A study of HIV/AIDS related knowledge, attitude and behaviors among female sex workers in Shanghai China

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>China is currently facing a rapid and widespread increase in human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)/acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS). The activities of female sex workers (FSWs) have contributed to the mounting epidemic of HIV/AIDS and other sexually transmitted diseases (STDs). Therefore, this study aimed to assess the HIV/AIDS-related knowledge, attitude and risk behaviors among FSWs operating in Shanghai China.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>A cross-sectional study was conducted in five districts of Shanghai, including three suburbs and two downtown locales. We adopted a cluster randomized sampling method to obtain ten geographic sites which consisted of one or more communities/villages proximal to a location where FSWs were accessible. A total of 324 FSWs from 109 Xitou Fang, massage parlors and hair salons who explicitly provided sexual services were enrolled in the study. Each participant completed a questionnaire survey and interview aimed to collect information on the individual's knowledge, attitude, and behaviors associated with risk for HIV/AIDs.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>The overall correct answer rate of HIV/AIDS-related knowledge was 60.8%, and the knowledge of FSWs from downtown areas was significantly higher than those from suburban areas (<it>P </it>< 0.05). The percentage of FSWs who reported having experiences in commercial sexual services without the use of condoms was 33.6%. Condom slippage or breakage was reported as having occurred at least once by 51.2% of the FSWs. FSWs from suburban areas were found to more often engage in high-risk behaviors, including oral and anal sex, than those from downtown areas (<it>P </it>< 0.001). Many of the FSWs (65.7%) reported having non-client sexual partners (most were identified as boyfriends or husbands); however, condom usage with these partners were lower (34.3%).</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>Based on the findings from our survey, we advise that promotion of HIV/AIDS-related knowledge be targeted towards FSWs in Shanghai, especially those operating in the suburbs. HIV prevention efforts, such as urging constant condom usage with both clients and steady partners, should be sustained and reinforced among the female sex workers population.</p

Trading or coercion? Variation in male mating strategies between two communities of East African chimpanzees

Across taxa, males employ a variety of mating strategies, including sexual coercion and the provision, or trading, of resources. Biological Market theory (BMT) predicts that trading of commodities for mating opportunities should exist only when males cannot monopolise access to females and/or obtain mating by force, in situations where power differentials between males are low; both coercion and trading have been reported for chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes). Here, we investigate whether the choice of strategy depends on the variation in male power differentials, using data from two wild communities of East African chimpanzees (P.t. schweinfurthii): the structurally despotic Sonso community (Budongo, Uganda) and the structurally egalitarian M-group (Mahale, Tanzania). We found evidence of sexual coercion by male Sonso chimpanzees, and of trading—of grooming for mating—by M-group males; females traded sex for neither meat nor protection from male aggression. Our results suggest that the despotism–egalitarian axis influences strategy choice: male chimpanzees appear to pursue sexual coercion when power differentials are large and trading when power differentials are small and coercion consequently ineffective. Our findings demonstrate that trading and coercive strategies are not restricted to particular chimpanzee subspecies; instead, their occurrence is consistent with BMT predictions. Our study raises interesting, and as yet unanswered, questions regarding female chimpanzees’ willingness to trade sex for grooming, if doing so represents a compromise to their fundamentally promiscuous mating strategy. It highlights the importance of within-species cross-group comparisons and the need for further study of the relationship between mating strategy and dominance steepness